February 21, 2010

Wisdom: February 15, 2010

February 15. TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2010.

WISDOM

DEFINITION:

The power of forming a sound judgment in any matter; experience.

SCRIPTURE:

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5.

Get wisdom! Get understanding! Proverbs 4:5

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

How many times in your life have you done something and then reacted by asking yourself, why did I do that? Some would respond by saying that it was a lack of wisdom. Others might just say that it was a mistake. In our day to day activities we often act on impulse and then wish we had not reacted in the manner we did. The bottom line was that we did not use wisdom.

Even as a child, Jesus recognized that God was His real Father. When He went to Jerusalem with His parents for the Feast of the Passover, He went to His father’s house and spent three days listening and questioning the teachers in the Temple. During this time His parents were looking for Him. Although He was only twelve He stayed in the Temple and recognized He needed to grow in wisdom and that God was the source of His wisdom.

The understanding He showed even at so young of an age amazed the teachers of the Temple. Jesus had parents who loved God and He listened, not only to His heavenly Father but to His earthly parents. When His parents found Him in the Temple, He went back with them to Nazareth.

For the next 18 years He worked in Joseph’s carpenter shop. The scripture tells us that during these growing years that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus not only grew and matured physically but He grew spiritually and in wisdom.

The verse above, Proverbs 4:5, is written as a command to us: GET WISDOM! GET UNDERSTANDING! The Bible contains many verses, especially in Proverbs, concerning the need to have wisdom in making our everyday decisions and the importance of growing in wisdom as Jesus did. In Proverbs 9:10 we are told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

How do we get wisdom? Solomon tells us in chapter 1 of Proverbs. He advises us to listen and learn and get guidance. In verse 8 he instructs us to listen to the instruction of our father and mother.

We can learn much about wisdom from the life of Solomon, considered the wisest man in the scriptures. David’s son Solomon was given guidance and instruction by David before he died. His instructions to Solomon were to be strong, and to prove yourself as a man. David recognized that wisdom comes from God. He told Solomon to do all that the Lord requires, which was to keep God’s laws and obey all of His commandments.

Solomon became King at a very young age and it was early in his reign that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said to Solomon: “Ask! What shall I give you?” (I Kings 3:5) Solomon responded (verses 9-15) by asking for an understanding heart so that he could discern between good and evil. This pleased the Lord and the Lord responded by saying that because you have asked for this and have not asked for long life or riches, you will have a wise and understanding heart and I will also give you riches and honor. Then the Lord said (verse 14) “so if you walk in My ways, keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” God gave Solomon not only wisdom but so much more.

Later Solomon showed his wisdom, that God had given him, when two women, who lived in the same house, came to him (I Kings 3:16-27) over the issue of who was the mother of the baby?

The two mothers had babies within days of each other. One of the babies died during the night and the mother of the dead baby switched her baby with the live baby. Both claimed the live baby as theirs. Solomon had no way of knowing the truth but in his wisdom he knew how he might find the truth.

Solomon asked for a sword and said to divide the child in two and give half to one and half to the other. Solomon then received the answer he wanted when the real mother said do not to kill the baby and asked that the baby be given to the woman who was not the mother. Solomon knew this woman was the true mother because she was willing to give up her baby rather than see her baby killed.

Solomon was known as the wisest man in the world and he gave God the honor for this. Solomon wanted to share his God-given wisdom with others, so he wrote down his wise principles and we can now read them in the book of Proverbs.

As Christians we need to have wisdom in making our daily decisions. We need the wisdom that only God can give. In I Corinthians 3:19 we read, “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.” In the world we cannot find the kind of wisdom God wants for us. That is why God has given us the Bible. God will give us wisdom if we will just ask for it. (James 1:5)

We need to have a personal relationship with Jesus in order to be a recipient of the wisdom God will give us. We may acquire all the wisdom of the ages and be known as the wisest man on the earth, but if we have not “SEEN” Christ we then are indeed ignorant.

The German sculptor Dannecker labored several years to fashion a figure of Christ in stone. He wanted to make sure that it closely resembled the Savior so he invited a young girl to identify the person represented in the sculpture. Her response was “a great man.” Dannecker was crushed, so he returned to his studio and worked for six more years on the sculpture. Then he invited another little girl and asked her to identify who the sculpture was. The little girl began to sniffle and said, “Suffer the little children to come to me.”

His goal was achieved; he had fashioned a likeness of Christ so real that even a small girl could see Him. Then he confessed that in his hours of discouragement in the last six years that he had personally turned to Christ and accepted Him as his Savior. Because he now knew Jesus, he said that he was able to carve into marble the vision of “CHRIST” that he now had “SEEN.”

When we are able to see Christ and know Him personally He will give us the wisdom we need for the decisions we must make in our daily lives.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ephesians 2:8-9.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

PRAYER:

I praise Your name today that, through faith, I can know You and that You will give me the wisdom to live my life today honoring You in all that I do.

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